Employment Alone is Not Enough 40% of Children Have Parents Who Cant Earn Enough to Provide Basic Necessities

New York — As middle-class families consider how to spend
their child tax credit checks, a new report from the National
Center for Children in Poverty finds that low-income families --
largely left out of the tax breaks -- aren't struggling to get
ahead but just to maintain their footing.

The report,
Living at the Edge: Employment Alone is Not Enough shows why work is not enough to help people move into economic
self-sufficiency. As families increase their earnings above the
federal poverty level, they rapidly lose eligibility for the kinds
of benefits like health care and child care subsidies that help
them keep their jobs and work themselves into a better standard of
living. At least 27 million children live in such families.

“In most instances, families with incomes between 100 and
200 percent of the federal poverty level face the same material
hardships and financial pressures as the families who are
officially acknowledged as poor,” says Dr. Lawrence Aber,
Director of the National Center for Children in Poverty. “For
instance, working parents whose income puts them at 150 percent of
the federal poverty level may lose eligibility for child care
subsidies before they make enough money to pay for stable child
care arrangements.

“The fact that our public policies often don’t
acknowledge how hard it is for people to move from poverty to
economic self-sufficiency means we aren’t giving people the
tools they need to create better lives for themselves,” said
Dr. Aber.

85% of low-income families have at least one working parent
-— more than at any time in the last decade.

40% of all children in the United States have parents who
can’t work their way to economic success any time soon.

The number of children living in low-income families declined
during the 1990s due, in large part, to a booming economy and
public policies that supported and rewarded low-wage employment.
According to
Employment Alone is Not Enough , it’s crucial that we continue to reduce the burden of
taxes and work related expenses on low-income working families,
even given the current financial situation, if we are to address
the economic disparity in this country.

Examples of policies that should be pursued, according to the
report are:

Protect the expansion of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit,
which lifts close to 5 million people -— half of them
children -- out of poverty annually.

Decrease the payroll tax burden on low-wage workers.

Provide working parents with health insurance coverage.

Help low-income parents with child care costs.

The federal poverty level for a family of four is $18,400.
Research by NCCP and others shows that, in most areas of the U.S.,
it takes double that amount to provide a family with the basic
necessities of food and clothing.